Iraq Food Service Operations
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A Letter from Our President...
In the Spirit of Giving
It would not be Christmas in Baghdad, without our annual fundraiser for the our favorite school. This years marks the 10th year of our efforts in supporting this truly heroic cause. Please see the note of thanks below from Operations Manager Iraq. He also does a great job each year in getting the project rolling and delivering the great results each season to the kids at the school.
"Hi Everyone,
Hope all are well today.
I would like to thank everyone for their amazing assistance in helping us raise a total of $8382.00 (minus prize money) for the children of the Dar Al-Narjes School here in Baghdad, Christmas 2021
Please see the “Christmas Raffle 2021 – Pictures” showing some pictures of the children receiving their gifts and much needed supplies to see them into 2022.
A big well done and thank you to each and every person who assisted by buying a ticket or making a donation this year. We have made a massive difference to this group of children and have given something back to those much less fortunate than ourselves this Christmas.
We look forward to another successful year in each location and to beating this total again come Christmas 2022!!!
All the very best from the Taylors Team.
Ryan Williams"
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In the spirit of the holidays, the Food Operations teams went above and beyond for their holiday displays, intricate hand work and fantastic menu presentations. We hope that their efforts made your holidays more enjoyable! For all of you who shared your kind praise and great suggestions, we thank you!
Thanks to the generous efforts and contributions of our patrons, employees, client base, and vendors we have raised over $43,000 over the past 7 years.
Even in this past year of uncertain times and global lockdowns they opened their service hearts and helped us to raise reach another milestone year for the kids.
Great News Story!
Back in 2016 we brought you a story , regarding one of our drivers, Hussain Abdul Kareem. In that article, we relayed how Hussain had been struck by an errant bullet to the head, and was given a 50/50 chance of survival. We also noted, the quick action on our President Jamie Williams and another generous fundraising effort that raised funding to assist Hussain through his recovery.
Finally after a few surgeries and a lot of physical therapy, we are thrilled to report that Hussain is still among us and is back to work with his Taylors family. We are thrilled with his recovery and that we were able to welcome him back after his arduous ordeal.
The team shot attached, is from the recent Cricket Tournament, held as part of the CLO Olympics events at the BEC. Competing teams from Taylors, PAE, AEBEA and Union 3 matched up for a play off event that took place over 3 days and ending with a stuning victory from the Taylors BEC Cafeteria team. Taylors took home the gold, but all teams displayed winning skills and put on a great show for the fans who weathered the cold. The BEC Cafetteria team also took the silver in the Volley Ball tournament as well!
Great Job Team Taylors!!!
In the Winners Circle!
Allam Naga C Ayyappa Reddy
It is with great sadness that we share the news we have learned today of the passing of one our BLiSS program employees. Allam had been on home leave with friends and family for the past month. The tragic news of his passing comes on the heels of the recent tidings of his nuptials having just married on the 23 of August.
Allam has been a part of the Taylors family since we assumed services at the BEC in March 2014. Prior to that he had worked at various sites within the green zone since 2010. During his time with Taylors, Allam worked in the warehouse where he was known as a good worker and friend to many. His accomplishments include nominations for the employee of the month program on two separate occasions.
Memoriam for Meriam
In December we lost a very valuable member of the Taylors' family. Below, is the message that we sent to our team. In the wake of this tragedy, like so many other times, the team pulled together and raised a fund for Meriam's family and we continue to offer support for them today. Through the team's efforts and support we honor her memory of generosity and giving spirit.
Team,
This is to inform you that we lost a great person, sister, mother, and friend... a very special lady who was a HUGE part of our Taylors family here in Iraq and had the most wonderful smile we have ever seen. Meriam worked for us at Union III and will be seriously missed by the team and the customers. She was so excited to go on her first vacation after 2 years along with her brothers Milbert and Marlon also both Taylors employees, just two weeks ago they went on their trip. Meriam was sadly bitten by a mosquito infected by chikungunya virus at home. She sadly passed away last night.
In this time of grief we offer our heartfelt condolences to bereaved family, Milbert and Marlon (brothers) Myla & Madell (sisters). Meriam’s husband Mr. Giovani Gucilatar and two children Jerson (13) and Chantelle (12). “Although we are not with you physically our thoughts are with you and pray that God comforts you through this very difficult time of loss and despair”.
MERIAM DELA PAZ GUCILATAR
When nature strikes back
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During the Holiday season we had another tremendous outpouring of generosity from our teams and the guests that they serve! This year we managed to raise a total of $11,588 USD, which was over double of our previous efforts, and for good reason. This year we added another organization to our roster to be the recipients of our program.
Several of our clients took a very constructive part along with us this year and assisted in bringing in some very significant assistance in raffle ticket income. A big shout of thanks must also go out to the Australian Ambassador who actually drew our winning tickets this year. You will never believe this but, her first ticket drawn from so many thousands of tickets in the box was actually her own ticket, laughing she returned it straight back inside the box allowing someone else to win, showing the true spirit of Christmas and giving to others. Good form indeed!
Please take a little time to pop open the PDF, which will provide some background for our second group to the orphans that we have managed to help. This group is called the Jinda group, working out of Duhok city, were they look to take care of predominantly,
Yazidi girls and young women, displaced and often orphaned or widowed during the times of ISIS in the area. Please do read the attachments and have a look at the links within, really a wonderfully worthwhile cause. So we are now sending 5,000USD to this worthy cause and as always the other 6,588USD has been used to buy, food products, clothes, shoes and toys for the orphans within Baghdad.
THANKS AGAIN to all who support our efforts to support these amazing organizations!
ON 25TH APRIL, A MASSIVE 7.8 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE AND AFTERSHOCKS OCCURRED IN NEPAL. OVER 8,000 PEOPLE ARE KNOWN TO HAVE DIED. THE FINAL TOTAL MAY REACH AN ESTIMATED 15,000.
The devastation was far reaching and included the families of some of our own workers.
Team Taylors pulled together and raised funds in honor of our associates from Nepal. Our teams across Iraq raised over $2,500 to share with the charity efforts of Community Action Nepal. http://www.canepAll of our sites including our Taylors regional support team contributed. A special thanks to our Basra team who raised over $1000 among themselves.
Update for Hussain
In March 2016, we shared with you the sad story of one of our Iraqi Drivers, Mr. Hussain Abdul Kareem. Hussain had received a gunshot wound to the head from a stray bullet. Through funds raised by our generous team, he was able to start the long term care that he needed. After two years and several treatments, Hussain is recovering. He has just undergone another surgery that we hope will provide great news that we can forward onto you. We look forward to getting this young man back to work soon!
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On November 1st, Team Taylors held it's annual Monster Mash! We had over 20 participates for the costume contest, and in true creative form, they went all out! Judges included some of our friends from from the Danish and German Embassies as well as leaders from the CR team. Everyone one was a winner and the evening was a howling success!
Thank you and Goodnight Basra!
At the end of September, we received the news that our operations in Basra would be closing.
For the next 2 weeks the team worked non-stop to pack up the operation for movement while continuing to serve three meals a day!
It was a bittersweet execution to say the least. On one hand the team work and can do spirit was amazing to behold, and on the other, we said goodbye to many of our family members and patrons who had dined with us for over 4 years.
We would like to say thank you to all of those who helped to make this site one of the best food service locations in Iraq and to all of those who we have served along the way.
 Danny's Fund Raising flyer |
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 Sweet Charity in the Salon |
 Fun night at the villa |
 Sweet Charity Baghdaddy's |
 Sweet Charity |
 Drawing for Raffle |
 game night fundraiser |
 Games |
 Game night 3 |
 Raffle winners |
Welcome Back Danny!
We are beyond blessed to be able to announce the return of one of our original team members. Danny rejoins the team after being sidelined for a year to battle a kidney failure.
Due to the generous nature of the Taylors team and our supporting sponsors we were able to raise enough funds to get Danny through a delicate surgery and the arduous journey of recovery. After months or rehabilitation and healing, he arrived back in country last month and is thrilled to be back at work.
Thank you to everyone involved in this great story! Your thoughts, prayers and gracious support were key to the successful outcome and the return of a key player in the Taylors world!
In March of 2016, Mr Hussain Abdul Kareem while on his day off in the red zone, was unfortunately struck in the head by a stray bullet (celebratory fire). Subsequently Hussain, was rushed to hospital were the doctors carried out some major surgery, at that time Hussain remained in a coma, with a 50/50 chance of survival. As we can all only imagine, this was a major shock to his recent bride of one month, and his extended family and friends - not only were they worried about him, but they were also faced with ongoing hospital bills.
Less than 2 weeks later, our President, Jamie Williams, was able to visit with Hussain at his home. He had one eye open, and could make the thumbs up sign as he recognised his visitors. At that time, Jamie delivered the $7,080 USD that had been raised for additional medical care on his long road back to what we all hope, is a full recovery. To the credit of all who participated, we had donations from all our locations and in addition funds came to us from our clients, CRG, Australian and Dutch embassies, This truly is , another remarkable reminder of the Taylor’s way, as we look after the less fortunate and take care of our own in their time of need. It is truly a fantastic example of th community working together to be there for Hussain, in his time of need..
Hussain
Treats for the Troops
When Taylors found out that the troops in the field may not have sweets for their Thanksgiving day meal, the call went out for support.
A general request was made for pie specifically. With short notice and no pie crust to work with, the team created a sweet potato pie layer ontop of a chocolate brownie crust, and thus, the Bartallah Brownie was born. in addition to the Brownie a selection of glazed fried apple pies were sent along for a more traditional approach.
The sweeter side of the story is that in order to secure the needed supplies, donations were made to the bake drive for our Danny fund.
 Pie Test |
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 Thanks for all you do |
 BEC leaders |
 Fried Apple Pies and the BB |
 the brownie gets a name |
 Bartallah Brownie |
 Apple Pie Goodness |
 all gone |
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Children are the future
Taylors has been providing Support to the DAR AL- NARJES ORPHANAGE for several years. Not just at the holidays, but with regular contributions and donation drives throughout the year.
This year we were able to triple our donation from last year to over $6,000. Bringing our running total of support for the kids to $22,000 since we have started with this worthy cause.
